Weighted squats - advice pls

[MESSING2]

For a beginner 50+, trying to sort out my rather flat/saggy glutes.

Can anyone advise a programme, or even just what weight to begin with?

TIA

Sorry if I wasn't clear! The heaviest kettle bell I can carry above my head while walking (and believe me, it's a standard accessory exercise) is 8 kilos! Good training for shoulder & wrist stability.

I've created a program for myself using chat gpt. Tell it what you want to do, your targets etc and it will create a day by day program for you.

have some Pt sessions to make sure you are doing it properly so you avoid injury with poor form

Caroline Girvan has excellent demonstrations of how to execute the various moves in the introductions to her workouts, as well as written guides on her website.

However, a few sessions with a qualified PT - especially someone experienced in working with older novices - would definitely be a good idea.

Pump is weight bearing.
you use dumbbells and barbells

Yes. But you have to go fairly low on weights because its very high rep. Weighted squats in a gym you'd aim for 3 or 4 sets of 8-12 reps with rest in between. You'd certainly not do them non stop for a 6 min track at the same weight.

Its also so fast its harder to get form correct. So it probably does count more as cardio than weight training.

op Look at you tube. Start off with body weight then when you have the form down look at investing perhaps in some weight plates or dumbells which can also be used for glute bridges etc

I’m the only person in the world that doesn’t like Caroline Girvan lol.

Pump is predominantly cardio. The weights are light and the focus is on high reps low weights. Not a bad thing but not really comparable to compound heavy lifting. (Heavy being relative of course).

@MESSING2 start slow and fairly light, see a PT if you can even just for a few sessions to learn form so you don’t injure yourself. If working at home squats with a barbell will be challenging without the right kit eg squat rack, bar and plates, but you can work up to weighted squats with dumbbells or kettlebells.

Enjoy! Theres no better feeling than lifting something heavy!

@Sidge I don't either. I sometimes do the odd video from her to change it up but mostly I find her stuff is too overcomplicated for my tastes. I feel like there's too much going on.

I like Kayleigh Cohen's strength stuff

Should have expanded it a bit, When you are over 50 and just starting out (with menopausal joints) heavy can cause injuries which heal slower so starting with pump might be good to build up a bit of fitness and endurance

I find her stuff is too overcomplicated for my tastes.

in what way overcomplicated, @Radra ? I find her workouts extremely straightforward as most of them focus on one particular area - abs, legs, quads, biceps, arms and shoulders, upper body…

Or do you mean her use of yoga blocks and chairs to enhance the difficulty of moves? If so, you don’t have to use them if you don’t want to.

One of the reasons I like her - which applies to Growingannanas as well - is that she doesn’t talk. I usually watch her excellent introduction the night before or early in the morning so I know what’s coming. During the actual workout I turn down the music and listen to Women’s Hour or the like.

@Enrichetta

It's personal taste, clearly. I find there's a lot of - get a chair, put one leg on it, do blah and the lack of talking means I often forget what I was supposed to be doing.

I prefer just doing simpler moves and focussing on form and going heavy.

Friend of mine (in her 60s and super fit) says she has earrings heavier than the pump bar for squats!

Pump is great fun, but it's really NOT weight bearing in the way that will protect a woman's body from osteoporosis etc. But it gets you moving!

Although - I see so much bad form in pump classes at my gym - just as well people aren't squatting more than 10 kilos or so.

Enjoy! Theres no better feeling than lifting something heavy!

Absolutely! I love it than I can lift 100 kilos off the floor. And climb a rope, hand over hand.

I would recommend you start with smaller hand weights, held on shoulders, before moving onto a barbell that weighs 20kg! 3kg in either hand, and then 5kg or 6kg. To go from squats with no weights to 20kg squats is a big jump and could cause off-putting injury. I find 5 or 6kg in each hand is enough - but I do love squats and do 100 or more at a session. Maybe if you are focusing on weightlifting, it's not that many lifts.

Personally, I find Girvan a bit much. There are lots of online workouts with hand weights to build you up before you move on to Girvan-level weights, if that is your thing.

You're not the only one. I just don't get Girvan at all. The workouts I've found of hers are really repetitive and dull. I like Kettlebells with Amy or fantastic, agile bodyweight workouts with Leo Moves.

4 sets of 12 reps at the weights some people on here are talking about is pretty impressive if the barbell alone weighs 20kg!

To go from squats with no weights to 20kg squats is a big jump and could cause off-putting injury.

When I first started training to lift weights (at age 58) my PT had me working with the barbell from the start. I find it soooo much easier to squat the bar unloaded barbell (20 kilos) than 2 x 10 kilo dumbbells, because the weight is distributed across the bar and across your traps and shoulders. I learnt to do all this under the supervision of a PT. And I'm a dance trained & I've always gone to the gym. Probably got injured more doing aerobics in the 1980s!

It's just that @MESSING2 needs to know what will get the effects she wants ...

I did 4 sets of 12 reps at 40 k the other day - 20 k bar plus 2 x 10k plates (the bar weight is always counted in the total weight, of course). Supersetted with climbing 12 feet up a rope (I'm heading to 67 yo). If I were squatting 60 or 70 kilos I'd only do 3 to 4 reps each set.

It is possible for women to do this! You train for it. And it's better to do this sort of training sooner than later. I wsh Id started serious lifting about 40 years ago.

I find some opinions on this thread really depressing - people can generally do far more than they think they can.

I agree @ParmaVioletTea some women would be surprised at what they are capable of.

I started working out in 2020. My first PT session he had me doing just bodyweight exercises as I hadn’t stepped foot in a gym for years; just squats, lunges, really light hand weights eg 2 kg. My god the next day I ached so much I needed to use the towel rail to get off the loo 🤣

Fast forward 5 years of regular training 2-4 times a week and I could deadlift 118kg, squat 65kg and bench 40kg. For reference I’m barely 5 foot tall and weigh 60kg - I’m also in my 50s and a bit chubby as I love wine, crisps and cheese.

I don’t train as much now due to lack of time in a new job but I train when I can with a focus on functional fitness. I want to go through my old age being able to get out a chair without using my arms, climb the stairs easily, carry my shopping, move quickly when I need to.

Oh and I am glad I’m not the only CG non-fan!

Brilliant @Sidge I'm in awe of the deadlift! My 1RM is 105.

My PT works with some quite elderly people (one client is 90) and they do deadlifts, squats and burpees. Just slower and lighter. His reasoning is that everyone needs to be able to get themselves up off the floor if they fall

I really admire you. I wasn't meaning to put people off heavier weights - just that I think it's important to build up to them. I know someone who was really fit but injured her shoulder lifting just 12kg and gave up entirely as her job depended on her agility and she got scared of weight training. I struggle with 12kg too, despite working out regularly. When trainers try to push me and I can feel injury and accident brewing I just walk away.

This amazes and inspires me. I started like you did, and ended up doing 4 classes a week - not weight training but bootcamp/HIIT. Absolutely loved them and had a bit of a reputation of being the strongest in the class, and lost a stone without making any changes to my diet. I felt fantastic and was never ill.

But I never got beyond 12kg - either a pair of 6kg hand weights or a kettlebell. if I ever tried higher I got excruciating ligament pain. I have dodgy ligaments that tear easily and have had achilles tendon and shoulder ligament tears before, which make me really cautious. Then the trainer stopped running the classes and I didn't find a replacement - got unfit again (though never regained the weight) and started getting ill again.

I'd love to get that fitness back and I would absolutely LOVE to make the kind of progress you have and that @ParmaVioletTea has, but I can't see how to get past that injury zone.

@RedBeech im sorry you’ve had injuries. It’s important to recognise your limitations - I’ve got rheumatoid arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome which has worsened lately so I can’t lift like I used to.

So forget the numbers and just focus on personal progression. Every time you lift heavier even just 0.5kg that’s progress. And if you can’t lift heavier - so what? It’s not a competition. Just do what you can. Personal strength is more than just physical.

Book a class with a P/T OP , don’t mind on line ..
You tell the P/T exactly what you want to achieve, you will be given a program then especially to suit you & help you reach your goals ..
Stairmaster , brilliant to do for 15 mins to fire up your glutes, & then you’ll be given exercises like kettlebell elevated sumo squats , Rdls , forward lunges , Hip thrusts , hip abduction machine ..
Never train glutes every day , you’ll go backwards ! , this happened to me .. 3 times per week is enough, muscles need to rest in order to grow ..
It’s all about technique & consistency, that’s why you will need to book a class with P/T to show you correctly how to do exercises, otherwise waste of your time going to gym ..
Need to be eating correctly aswel ..
Also , it is slow to get results , just have to stick with it , won’t happen overnight OP 🤷🏻‍♀️..
You can do this , best of luck x

although i really like Caroline Girvan, bear in mind that she doesn’t talk during the workout, so if you don’t have good form, you won’t be aware/be able to correct your mistakes during the workout.

in really like Sydney Cummings on YouTube, she keeps reminding you about your posture, shoulders, chest up, etc.

for an american she doesn’t talk too much, unlike Nourish Move Love, who has great workouts but won’t shut up for a second and drives me mad.